Finally
by nyrangers24
Summary: A story about Adam Banks, and the girl who he realized was right there in front of him all along. Excerpt from story to come.


I was certain about three things as I looked back on my life since it started 16 years ago. One, I was different from most girls. I loved hockey enough to have it take a major chunk of time out of what I had of a social life. Two, the fact that my parents had money had never mattered. It never stopped me from taking the somewhat lengthy trip to that pond when I was younger to try and help my D-5 friends with their ailing hockey skills, and almost losing my best friend forever in the process. We were being pulled in two different directions in those years. I was going one way because my heart told me it was best. He was going the other because he knew his talent, and he knew that team's status in the hockey world could get him there, even if his teammates brain washed him in the process. Three, I was in love with that best friend even if at that time I hadn't recognized it. I know it now, but I have to concentrate on coaching hockey, coaching my friends, in the biggest tournament of our lives. Quack Quack.

* * *

"And here comes Banks, oh he steals the puck!" I heard Adam next door as he was playing a one duck game of roller hockey in his driveway. He did this every day; the boy was in love with hockey. At least I knew he had an idea of what love _was_. I quickly grabbed my stick off my garage wall and ran the short distance across the yard from my house to his. There wasn't much difference between our houses at least. We lived in Edina, all the houses looked the same. Big and probably outrageously expensive. Now that I think of it, I had never asked my parents how much my house had cost.

He didn't notice I was now next to his garage, Adam never noticed anything but the goal the puck and the stick when he was playing hockey. If he didn't make it to the NHL when he grew up I had promised myself I would question the kind of people that did. I had known Adam since we were two, all we ever talked about were things that related to hockey. Even through the "Banksless" years as I like to call them, because really, hockey was what had split us apart, and brought us back together. "Banks fakes around the defender, it's a brake away! He fakes left, fakes right and…." "And Bombay with a fantastic defensive play" I said after I had swooped in to steal the puck and break Adam's fantasy.

"Hey Carrington." He said as he skated over to me. "I thought you were going with coach Bombay to turn in our forms." Figures all Adam would care about is making sure that he is eligible to play in our latest endeavor. Well, it was the USA hockey national tournament, the next level up from the Goodwill games. Yes, if you were wondering the scouts will be there.

"Uncle Gordon insisted I take a day off, he claims I've been working too hard." I laughed a little at that. Ever since coming back into my life when I was twelve, my uncle knew how much I loved coaching the ducks. We were always a great team when coaching together, I was very technical and he was very inspirational. Most of all I think we just enjoyed the whole atmosphere, and the personalities of the players we were coaching. I enjoyed it most though because it allowed me to be able to happily call Uncle Gordon "Uncle Gordon" again.

"Adam," I said as I thought. "Yeah" he said back. "You may want to use this as some inspiration." He knew where I was getting at. "Carrington, when is the last time you saw me not play hockey." "Never" I quickly thought to myself. I had faced it a long time ago, in Adam's life hockey had always come first. Why else would he have joined the ducks instead of risking not playing hockey for the rest of that season? Oh wait, I know. "The day Uncle Gordon and I came to your game and told you that you were "ineligible"". We both laughed. Bitter sweetly that may have been the best day Adam's life. The day he was forced into becoming a duck.

For me it was one of the best days of my life, because Adam was forced to talk to me again, without his ego driven rich friends around.

"Well there you go, in my young life I've already wasted one day of hockey, and we both know that that is one day too many." Adam wasn't like this around anyone but me I had been able to conclude over the past couple years. We had always connected, even when he was driven into being a jerk to me.

Those boys really were able to control Adam. I think it was because Adam had always lived his life trying so hard to impress his father and live up to his expectations. Unfortunately for me, this meant that Adam was told to care less about what I think. I was never popular in that small private school we went to when we were younger. In order to be that you had to be "one of the jerks", something I had no intention of. They teased me for working with the ducks, and at times it hurt, but I could care less.

All those years I tried so hard to hate Adam as the rest of the ducks easily did. It wasn't easy for me, because I knew that wasn't the real Adam. I don't know what I would have done if uncle Gordon hadn't come to dinner that one night when we invited the Banks'over, and realized what Hans had told him was true. The Banks' did live in the D-5 district.

"Come on Adam, when is the last time we ever hung out." "Yesterday" He immediately said. It was so hard to be right around someone who felt comfortable enough around you to feel not everything they say is stupid. "We watched the Rangers, remember? You were making those jokes abou…" "Okay stupid question" I said to cut him off. This wasn't going to be easy. He just kept starring at me with that same face, the one he probably had no idea could melt any girl's heart.

"Come on Adam, please! With the tournament coming up there will be no time for anything." He looked at me with a face that told me he was thinking. I could tell I was starting to win. "Adam." I said as I gave a last effort. He looked at me with a confused face. "But what do we do that's not hockey?" He asked me. I began to wonder myself what we could do. Oh man, all we had in common was hockey! So much for wanting to take the next step.

No. There had to be something. Something else beneficial to his play in the tournament maybe. Come on Carr think. Wait! I had it.

"Well," I started, "Is jogging related to hockey?" I asked. He immediately caught on. "Well, you can't jog with skates on." He said. "And jogging to somewhere you want to go, you can't do that with a hockey stick in your hand, I mean." That was it. We both ran into our houses to change. As I was running down the stairs putting my long chestnut hair into a ponytail I yelled to my mom that I was going to the rink with Adam. We hadn't quite strayed away from hockey but I figured it was close enough. All of our stuff was already at the rink so all we needed to do was just get there. The rink was in Edina, so unlike the other ducks, we could get there on foot.

As the doorbell rang I grabbed my cell phone and opened the door. Why did Adam have to be so perfect? He was so built, thanks to my working him out every day. We went to the rink together all the time, because my dad kind of owned it. Like Adam hockey was my dad's first love. It took him until he was eighteen to realize love could also apply to girls, my mom for an example. I was hoping Adam would see the light earlier than that.

"Ready?" he said, as I grabbed the keys to the rink. It was closed today, my dad hadn't told me why. "Yeah." I said as I closed the front door behind me. We were five minutes in at our ridiculous pace that the ducks could never hold when we went on our team runs when I spoke. "So what will it be today Banksie." I usually let Adam decide what he wanted to do, unless I saw something in his game that needed work. Those days were very few. Never the less he valued my opinion very highly.

"I don't know, I was thinking maybe we could just play one on one, for fun maybe." I laughed at this. Adam must not know how competitive he gets. "What?" he said as he heard me laugh. "Trust me on this one Adam, you and I, and hockey and "fun" don't mix to well.

"Come on Carr." He mocked me as we kept running. I was totally not strong enough to overcome a pleading Adam Banks. "Okay," I gave in. "I guess maybe it's possible." As I said this we were finally at the rink. I was sweating way more than Adam was. He never seemed to be bothered by anything athletic as many years as I had known him. Seeing him sweating though might have been a nice sight.

"Um, Carr, are you going to leave us out here or are we gonna go inside?" I snapped out of my fantasy and quickly opened the door to the rink. It was nice and cool in the lobby. Today was one of Minnesota's hotter days of the year, so the cool air was welcoming. I was sure Adam didn't even notice.

We walked into the locker room and grabbed our gear. My dad had built this locker room after we won the Goodwill games a couple of years ago. After our win we officially called this rink home, and we were able to practice whenever we wanted. Adam and I took full advantage of my dad's offer. We came here so much that he gave us both a key. My dad trusted Adam a lot. He was almost like a second son to him, after my brother Jay of course. Adam's dad had gotten better over the years, but was never the traditional "father figure" that my dad was to him. Adam was so distant from his father that when we were little, my dad taught him how to skate.

We then walked through the doors to the rink. Adam began to lace up as I ran up to the press box to turn on the music. My dad had really gone all out. If the Minnesota Wild ever needed to use this rink for a game they certainly could. It had arena seating and all the works. It could even be turned over to a basketball court if needed. My dad had always loved Madison Square Garden enough to model some of the features in this rink after it.

Once I got the music started, I couldn't help but watch Adam skate. He really was the real deal, and he would be the ideal pick of any hockey team. He not only had a love for the game, but he was actually good at it. He would play in the NHL probably for free if they wanted him to.

Once I was able to avert my eyes away from him I ran back down to the rink level and quickly tucked my sweats into my skates. This was not my normal attire for when I'm on the ice. Even when I'm coaching it's jeans, long sleeved under armor, and some type of fleece jacket. Today though, I just wore the sweats and my under armor. Oh, and hockey gloves of course.

Once I was all set, I grabbed my stick that I had recently had taped with the Rangers logo and started on to the ice. "Geese you take forever." Adam yelled to me as he saw me come into view. "Well it's not second nature for everyone Adam." I yelled back. As I said this he skated towards me. When we were face to face, I realized for the 10,000th time how much taller he was than me. Adam was always so much taller than everyone, but he was a giant on the ice.

"All right Bombay, show me what you've got." I looked at him with a cringed face as he skated with the puck towards center ice. "I thought you said we were just playing for "fun" Banks." I yelled out to him as I followed his path. I skated to a sharp stop in front of him as we were both crouched at center. "Oh we're playing for fun," he started. "At least I will be once I get up by ten." So much for the one moment I thought Banks could cool it. "We'll see about that Cake-eater." He took one look at me and smiled. "Don't forget you're one too." Then we both looked at the puck. One slap two slap go. Adam started off with the puck.

We had been going at it for almost an hour. Adam was up by one as the score was 18-19. We always went up to twenty, so I had to make sure I scored two before he scored one.

Adam believe it or not was not that much better than I was. I probably could have played on the Ducks instead of coached, and together he and I probably would have been unstoppable. I was better than all of them from the beginning, I never ever admitted it though, because they all knew, and I wasn't that type of person. They never understood why I wouldn't play. The only one who ever had gotten it out of me was Uncle Gordon the first time he saw me skate. The truth was, I was scared to play. None of the ducks would have ever understood why, knowing them, they probably would have just called me a chicken.

My dad used to play in the NHL, and his career was cut short by an awful injury. That had scared me enough out of ever thinking of playing again. Seeing my dad so helpless during his year of recovering just made me realize how much it would have hurt him to see the same happen to me. I just couldn't do it.

So instead I coached. I knew hockey better than anything, and decided that if I wasn't going to use the knowledge I had myself, I might as well give it to people who could use it. People like Adam, who I definitely had no problem giving it to. It gave me an excuse to see him every day. We had just happened to become best friends in the process, and along the way I had somehow fallen in love with him (even more than I already had been).

This time, I had the puck behind the net, and was thinking about my next move. I had to be careful, Adam was good enough that if I made a mistake he would easily score. I then decided to start up ice, where Adam was waiting for me. He immediately began to play defense as I crept closer and closer to the goal. I quickly faked right and fooled him right out of his skates. Goal. We were now tied. 19-19, next goal would win.

"Am I actually going to have the honor of defeating the great Adam Banks?" I joked to Adam as I skated back towards center. He hated to lose. A trait carried over from his days with the Hawks.

"I don't give out to many honors like that Carrington." He said back as he joined me at center ice. One slap two slap , Adam had the puck. I was skating defensively now, putting my stick in his way frequently.

Of course he makes one little move and I fall flat on my butt.

"Well, I tried at least" I thought to myself as I sat on the cold ice. I didn't bother to watch Adam score. I would have plenty more chances to see that. But for some reason I never heard the puck hit the net, or the crossbar or anything. All I heard was Adam skating back towards me. He then skated over me and knelt by my side.

"Are you okay" he said in a tone that sounded like a second thought. "Adam I'm fine" I said confused. Why was he so worried about me all of the sudden? "Oh, okay" he said as he looked down. I usually read Adam clearly, but I had absolutely no idea what he was talking about. "Adam, are _you_ okay?" I asked him as he kept looking around. "Yeah, I'm fine." He said startled. Something was definitely all of the sudden on his mind.

"Then why didn't you go score?" I asked. He seemed like he was trying to tell me something, but didn't know how to say it. Then out of nowhere, he began to talk. "I never understood why you don't play."

I wasn't sure what I should say. Out of all of the ducks, Adam would probably understand me the most. He was easy to talk to, and now that I thought of it I wondered why I hadn't told him sooner. "Adam," I started. "Do you remember when my dad got hurt?" He looked at me with those blue eyes now piercing through my heart. "Yeah." He said. "That isn't why though is i-" He immediately stopped as I began nodding my head. "Really?" He said like he couldn't believe it. "Adam, I don't want to get hurt. You know how small I am. I may be "good" but I wouldn't be able to last out there." He looked at me like he couldn't believe what I was saying. "But you love hockey Carr," He started. "You were always the best player I knew." I looked down as he said this. Uncle Gordon was so much easier on me when I vented.

"Adam, could you just try to understand." I asked as I looked into his eyes. He really was upset by this. He then spoke "I do understand Carrington, from your point of view. If you looked at it from mine, you'd know what I was thinking."

"Never say no to hockey" I immediately said. "Yeah I guess" He chuckled back. "It's just, you're so strong Carrington, at least that's what you appear to be." It made me happy to know he at least cared a little bit. "Well, I guess we aren't always _what_ we appear to be." I said. I could tell he was now thinking about something else he was trying to tell me. He became very uneasy. "Adam, what?" I asked as I lowered myself enough to get my eyes to his.

"Carr, when we were little, you know how I was mean to you," he began. I couldn't speak as all of the feelings of hate and being hurt and wanting to have him feel the same way about me as I did him flooded back. He had my full attention. "I hated myself for it. You know why I was like that? Because other than hockey, I wasn't good at anything else Carr. I wasn't good at standing up for myself. Or anyone I loved." I stopped breathing as I repeated what he had said in my mind. "Or anyone I loved." We starred at each other for a long time. Both wondering what the other was thinking. Then he said it. What I had been waiting for since I was little.

"Carrington, I love you. You know why I love you? Because every time you're around me, I don't want you to leave. Every time you look at me, I don't want you to look away. And after all those years I spent unsure of who I was and playing hockey, I was always sure of one thing. I got this funny feeling inside when I thought about you, and even though it took me a long time, I found out what it is." He looked at me with those blue eyes as if he was trying to read every thought in my mind at that moment. Then he did what I had always dreamed of him doing, he leaned in to kiss me.

The first kiss was soft, and I nearly lost all my control, he was pulling away, but I kissed him back. Each kiss getting harder and harder. I had waited for this moment forever, and now, Adam was all mine. When I let him pull away, he leaned his fore head into mine and looked into my eyes. "You don't know how long I've been waiting for you." He said as I could feel his breath on my skin. "No Adam, you don't even have any idea how long I've been waiting for you, how long I've been in love with you." I said as he smiled and kissed me again. He was finally mine; Adam had finally figured out what I had known all along. What would the rest of the ducks think when they found out?


End file.
